Episodes
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18 – The Sportscaster of Alternative Grading: An Interview with Matt Townsley
Dr. Matt Townsley is an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Northern Iowa and a former district adminstrator and high school math teacher. In addition to being an accomplished faculty coach and author of many books about Alternative Grading, Matt also has the distinction of having presented the highest energy presentation ever…
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17 – An Entire School Doing Alternative Grading? Meet the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering
Today we welcome to the pod the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering. A public residential magnet high school in Alabama, this school was built from the ground up around the principles of alternative grading. In this episode, Sharona speaks with the President of ASCTE, Matt Massey, and the lead English Language Arts teacher…
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16 – Critiquing the Critiques: Two Recent Articles About Alternative Grading
Alternative grading is getting more and more press coverage. Some of it good, some of it not so good. In this episode, Sharona and Bosley look carefully at a couple of recent articles about alternative grading and discuss whether the critiques contained in them are valid or questionable. Links to the articles discussed, and some…
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15 – SoTL: Alternative Grading as a Classroom Practice and a Dissertation Research Topic – an Interview with Ashleigh Fox
On this episode we welcome Ashleigh Fox. Ashleigh is a writing professor at Community College of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, and is doing her dissertation on best practices in Alternative Grading in Higher Education. In this conversation, we discuss successes and “not yet” successes in her courses, her dissertation research into Alternative Grading, as well…
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14 – Undoing the Grade: An Interview with Jesse Stommel
On this episode, Bosley and Sharona speak with Dr. Jesse Stommel about his new book Undoing the Grade and about all the conversations about grades that we should be having. We touch on everything from 1000 point grading systems and the impact of Learning Management Systems to ChatGPT and seeing students as human beings. We…
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13 – Interim Grades: What do we do when we have to report “grades” in the middle of a term? With Joe Zeccola
Many institutions require instructors to provide “interim” or “midterm” grades. How does this work with an alternatively graded class? In this episode, co-hosts Sharona and Bosley are once again joined by nationally board certified English teacher Joe Zeccola to discuss the practice of providing middle-of-the-term grades to students and other stakeholders. In addition to interim…
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12 – Getting Started Part 7: Building Buy-In
In this episode, Bosley and Sharona discuss “Buy-In” – what it is, what exactly we are trying to get people to buy into, who we need to get buy-in from, some ideas about how and when to get buy-in, etc. Continuing the exploration into our unexamined grading practices and the similarities and differences between the…
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11 – Getting Started Part 6: Feedback – Giving It and Getting Students to Use It
Feedback is one of the four core pillars of Alternative Grading. In this episode, co-hosts Robert Bosley and Sharona Krinsky discuss what elements are included in effective feedback, evaluate what it takes to teach students to use it, and share specific tips and barriers such as where feedback appears in LMS systems and different types…
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10 – Artificial Scarcity and Doing Alt Grading “Right” or “Wrong”: An Interview With David Clark
In this episode, co-hosts Sharona Krinsky and Robert Bosley talk with Dr. David Clark, an associate professor of Mathematics at Grand Valley State University and co-author of both the new book Grading for Growth and the Grading for Growth blog. Join us as we explore Dave’s journey through alternative grading, what his impetus for writing…
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9 – Reassessment Carnivals: An Interview with Kate Owens
In this episode, Sharona and Bosley talk with Dr. Kate Owens, a math professor at the College of Charleston, about her journey into Alternative Grading, how she handles assessments and reassessments in her classes, and what her top tips are for instructors considering switching to Alternative Grading. Links A Beginner’s Guide to Standards Based Grading…